This invention relates to a new type of oxygen bleach activator for peroxy bleaches, and more particularly relates to an organosilicon compound capable of reacting with peroxy bleaches to produce active peroxy acids.
A bleach is a substance which lightens, whitens, and decolorizes a substrate through chemical activity. There are various categories of bleaches, and one of the most prevalent is the sodium hypochlorite type. Dry bleaches are also available in the form of sodium dichloroisocyanurate formulations which decompose in solution to release sodium hypochlorite. Hydrogen peroxide is still used to some extent in the bleach industry, and a growing category of bleach is sodium perborate which release hydrogen peroxide to function as the agent responsible for whitening. Color producing agents in a substrate sought to be bleached are organic compounds which contain alternating single and double bonds. These chromophores absorb visible light and transmit color. Decolorization is brought about by destroying one or more of the double bonds, and this destruction is accomplished with the bleach which destroys the double bond by adding to the double bond. In the particular case of hydrogen peroxide and peroxy bleaches such as sodium perborate, an oxygen atom is added across the double bond. In home laundering, when bleaches are employed, they are usually dispensed in a laundry liquor at a temperature of about fifty degrees Centigrade, or lower. While perborate bleaches are a less harsh alternative to chlorine bleaches, in order to be effective, it is necessary to allow an excessively long time for perborate bleaching, employ a higher temperature, or add an activator that is capable of reacting with the perborate ion to produce an active peroxy acid. Peroxy bleaches such as perborates, persulfates, persilicates, perphosphates, and percarbonates, as well as organic oxygen bleach activators capable of reacting with the peroxy bleach component to produce an active peroxy acid, are well known in the prior art. For example, some of the conventional perborate bleach activators are acyl compounds and N-acetylated compounds such as ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid, phosphonic acid derivatives, cyanoamines, N-benzoyl-2-methylimidazole, N-acylcyano cyclic amines, sulfonyl oximes, carbodiimides, acylphosphonate, N-sulfonylazole, heterocyclic sulfonate esters, sulfonic anhydride, carboxylic-sulfonic anhydrides, and other acyl group containing compounds which react with perborate to form peroxyacetic acid. Tetra-acetylethylenediamine (TAED) and tetra-acetylglycouril (TAGU) are disclosed in each of U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,761, issued Mar. 11, 1980, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,858, issued July 3, 1984. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,301, issued Aug. 11, 1981, the bleach activator isopropenyl hexanoate is taught. Sodium octanoyloxybenezenesulfonate is used in U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,934 issued Nov. 1, 1983, and in the published unexamined European Patent Application No. 0174132-A2 of Mar. 12, 1986, whereas sodium 4-(2-chloro-octanoyloxy)benzenesulfonate is employed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,327, issued Dec. 4, 1984. A bleach activator and a bleach catalyst auxiliary is a concept set forth in United Kingdom published unexamined Application No. 2138853A of Oct. 31, 1984, wherein the auxiliary bleach catalyst is ferrous or ferric D-glycero-D-guloheptonate. While it is apparent from the foregoing that the prior art is replete with activators for perborate type bleach compositions, it is not believed to be known heretofore to employ an organosilicon compound in such a capacity as bleach activator. Thus, the present invention is considered to include a new category of bleach activator heretofore unknown in the prior art.